A career advisor's guide to preparing for a job interview

Job interviews 101

There’s a reason why job interviews are the stuff of nightmares. The idea of being caught off guard when you’re trying to impress someone is enough to give even the most confident person pause. But interviewing is an essential part of any successful job search. The key to doing it well is to prepare, practice and perhaps reframe your perspective a little. An interview, after all, is more than just an opportunity to prove you’re a good candidate for a role. It’s also a chance to see if the role is something you really want.

Standing out in an interview can be difficult, especially if you haven’t been interviewing for a job in a while. To make a great first (and second and third…) impression in your job interview or interviews, we’ve compiled some of the best advice, job interview strategies and virtual interview tips. Read on to learn how to stand out!

Even the bravest person can get nervous before an interview! For more tips, read our Interview Guide, which includes additional interview guidance.

For anyone anxious about going into an interview, it can boost your confidence to remember that you’ve already passed the first test. If a hiring manager wants to meet you, it’s because he or she agrees that your skills and experience line up with those required by the role.

Consider a job interview a way to learn more about both a position and a company. Just as you are more than your resumé, the work experience at a company is more than a job listing.

In the end, a job interview is a two-way street. You’re not there to perform or impress. You’re there to share and to learn.

2. Preparation is key

When it comes to presenting yourself in an honest and positive light, there are some universal tips out there. It’s a good idea, for example, to master the STAR method of answering questions. But it’s also wise to consider your personality’s strengths and weaknesses in the context of an interview.

Introverts and extroverts handle social situations very differently and accordingly bring their own assets and challenges to the table.

If you feel energized after social interactions, if you are what’s commonly known as a “people person,” you can put that rapport-building talent to work for you. Being enthusiastic and a good storyteller can burnish your image, for example. But take those qualities too far, and you can appear disingenuous or sales-like, which might hinder you.

Keep in mind the importance of being yourself but not selling yourself, asking questions about the company and interviewer, and responding to the social cues the person you’re talking with is giving you.

For people who identify as introverted, interviews present a unique challenge: Feeling comfortable with someone takes time for an introvert — and time is one thing you don’t usually have in an interview. Still, there are ways to hack this structural disadvantage. For starters, you’ll need to practice reviewing your experience and answers to common interview questions.

Doing this with a friend is best, but you can also do it alone. The goal is to become fluent in talking about yourself, your experiences and your challenges and successes. Do it frequently enough, and you don’t have to overthink it in an interview. It may even help you relax to be in familiar territory.

It can also help to write out responses to standard interview questions. This process not only solidifies your responses but also can help clarify your message and allow you to deliver it succinctly and efficiently.

4. When time is against you

While the ideal interview situation might include a few days of lead time, the real world doesn’t always allow for that. So, what do you do when you’re invited to interview … that afternoon?

There are a couple of ways to set yourself up for success in a situation like this. First, ask for a detailed job description, do basic research on the company and then figure out where you need to be and how much time you need to get there. (Or, for virtual interviews, download the requisite platform and identify a quiet place to take the meeting.) Even having a top line understanding of the company’s history, mission, size and partners will help you develop relevant responses to interview questions.

Next, think about some situations that underscore your skills and achievements and get ready to talk about them during your job interview. You won’t be able to rehearse this extensively, but identifying a few key experiences that you can reference during your interview will help you get your point across.

The good news? If you don’t have a lot of time to prepare, your interviewer may give you a little more latitude during the conversation.

5. The end is just the beginning

Virtual interview tips and surprises

In today’s work-from-home world, virtual interviews are increasingly the norm. Be prepared with the following:

• Have a quiet space with a neutral background where you can conduct the interview.
  
• Make sure your internet connection is good, your camera is on and you have the right platform installed on your device.
• Check for any time differences and plan accordingly. Your interviewer may have booked you for a 2 p.m. call, but if that person is in a different time zone, you may need to be ready earlier or later than that.
• Look at the camera during your interview, not your screen.
• Minimize disruptions, even if that means turning on a movie for the kids in a different room while you take your interview.

Finally, if your interviewer surprises you with a highly specific question and you don’t know the answer, don’t panic.

As Starks says: “Make your best attempt. Without an answer, the interviewer is unable to evaluate you as a candidate. Therefore, having no response, or simply saying “I don’t know,” is the worst response you can give. To the best of your ability, think about the question out loud and let the interviewer understand your thought process as you arrive at the best possible answer.”

Starks suggests having an example ready of a time you were stumped by something in your working life and how you resolved it. Maybe, he says, “you reached out to your network to crowdsource the collective wisdom of your contacts or rapidly upskilled by reading books or taking online courses.”

Overall, standing out in an interview requires time to prepare and practice, with the patience to know that interviewing itself is a skill and one that improves with every experience. So even if you don’t get the first job you interview for, know that the interview alone has served you. And there’s always the next one!